Drilling mechanism



June 10, 1952 Filed April 12, 1947 W- F. CLARK DRILLING MECHANISM 2 SHEETS-SHEET l IN VEN TOR. k/JLLJAMF! CLARK June 10, 1952 w, cLARK 2,599,696

DRILLING MECHANISM Filed April 12, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I, so 3' I I I ww 3) 5 INVENTOR. I l fLlggAM'F' CLALEK Patented June 10, 1952 DRILLING MECHANISM William F. Clark, Mansfi The Ohio Brass Compa eld, Ohio, assignor to Mansfield, Ohio, a.

corporation of New Jersey Application April 12, 1947, Serial No. 741,033

1 Claim.

This invention relates to drilling mechanism and more particularly to mechanism for drilling the heads or webs of rails.

One object of this invention is to provide a drilling mechanism to be. applied to a rail, or other similar object, whereby openings may be drilled in the side face thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drilling mechanism which may be clamped to the head or to that part of a rail on which it is desired to provide an opening.

Another object is to provide drilling mechanism which may be quickly and with little effort made to grip that part of a rail or other object which is to be drilled and to quickly and easily release the mechanism from its grip on the rail or other object.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a device in which the parts composing the clamping portion of the device tend to assume a clamping position through relative weight of the parts when the device is held in its normal or horizontal position while free of attachment to a rail.

A still further object is to provide a drill in which the parts forming the clamping portion will tend to lock the handle in its clamping position when app-lied to a portion of a rail or other device.

Another object of this invention is to provide drilling mechanism suitable to use with a ratchet drill and providing means to regulate the rate of feed of the drill bit.

The invention resides in the new and novel construction, combination and relation of the parts described in this specification and shown in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a top plan view of this invention properly positioned on a rail head but not in a clamping relation thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1 in partial section showing the device more clearly properly positioned on the rail and in a non-gripping relation thereto.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 but gripping the rail head.

Fig. 4 is a side view of Fig. 3 in partial section and showing the drill as clamped to the head of a rail.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the drill bearing.

It is quite frequently necessary to replace rail bonds forming part of a. signal circuit and which has become ineffective due to a few defective rail bonds.

Under such conditions it is quite desirable from an operators standpoint to have a drilling device which may be quickly and easily applied and removed from a rail, especially when trains are operating over the track of which the rail is a part.

In the drawings the hand operated drill I is of the ratchet type and may be one purchased in the open market to meet requirements and therefore full details of construction are not disclosed as they may vary and form no part of this invention except as a complete drill.

The frame 2 comprises a yoke shaped member having straight portions or legs 3 connected by the curved portion 3' and each leg has an offset portion 4 to receive the head of a rail 5.

A cross brace 6 extends between the portions 4. Pointed screws 1 are arranged to engage one of the side faces of the head and screws 8 constituting adjustable abutment members are arranged to engage the top face of the rail head. These screws are suflicient to properly position the drill mechanism on the rail head.

Pivotally secured to the frame portions 4 by .pins 9 is a clamping member Ill provided with an adjustable hand screw I I arranged to be brought into engagement with the other side face of the rail head to efiect the securement of the drill mechanism to the rail.

An operating handle I2 is pivotally secured to a boss I3 (Fig. 2) on the cross-bar 5 by the pin I4 Projecting upwardly from the clamping member ID are a pair of spaced lugs forming a clevis I5. Connecting the clamping member ID and handle I2 is a link I6 pivotally secured to the handle by pin I1 and to the clevis I5 by pin I8 (Fig. 2).

The pivotal pins I4, I1 and I8 are so positioned relative to each other that when the handle is in the clamping position (Fig. 4) and the hand screws I I are in engagement with the rail, the pin I1 will be slightly out of alignment with the pins I4 and I8 as shown by the line (1-1:. (Fig. 4).

By this relation of the pins I4, I! and I8, the clamping mechanism is prevented from inadvertently releasing the rail head since any force exerted by the screws I I against the rail is transmitted through the clamping member I Ii and link it to the pin I? with the result that the force upon the pin I'l tends to move it further out of alignment with the pins I4 and I1 thereby forcing the handle I2 to maintain its closed position.

Should the pin I I be out of alignment with the pins I4. and I8 but on the other side of the line wa the tendency would be to force the handle to open when the screws H are forced against the rail. If the pins 16, H and 18 are in alignment when the screws ll grip the rail, the frame may or may not release the rail head, an unreliable operating condition.

It is preferable, but not necessary, to have the weight of the clamping member 10 and screws H sufficient to overcome the tendency of the handle to hold the clamping mechanism in its fully open position, in which case the clamping mechanism will be in a partially closed'condition while the drilling mechanism is held in its normal or horizontal unattached position.

No stop is required to limit the degree to which the clamping mechanism may be opened as the opening will be automatically limited by the link 16 between the clamping member 10 and handle l2.

By raising the portions 4 of the frame 2 sufficiently and lengthening the clamping member I!) and adjusting the length of the screws 1 and Il, the drill mechanism will be adapted to operate on the web of the rail. This is a mere change in the dimensions of a few parts but not in principle or operation.

3 The frame '2 is provided with a relative drill supporting 'cross bar member 25 (Fig. 5) secured to lu'gs on the inside of the legs 3 by screws 25 and has a 'recess 21 and a concentric hole 23 opening into the recess 2'1. This member 25 cooperates with leg 30 of frame 2 to define a drill bit plane. I h

The drill I has a flange 29 which is positioned in the recess 21 and bears against the support and at one of its extreme ends is supported by a hand operated screw 30 threaded in the frame portion 3'.

The drill bit carrying portion 3| of the drill jl is threaded into the abutment engaging part 32 thus forcing the bit ahead when the drill handle is manipulated and the part 32 held against rotation, the rate of forward movement of the drill bit being that of the pitch of the threadbetween the parts 3| and 32.

The tendency is for the portion 32 to rotate with the rotation of the drill bit and at the same rate which would not permit advancement of the drill bit unless the portion 32 is held against rotation.

This rate is usually too great for drilling hard steel such as rails but may be controlled by adjusting the friction between the flange 29 and support member 25 by means of the hand screw 30, thus permitting the portion '32 to rotate with the jdrill bit but at a slower rate. a

The depth of the drilled hole for rail bonds is necessarily quite exacting and therefore gauge 33 made adjustable by the screw 34 is provided.

To use the mechanism, it is first properly positioned on the rail by means of the adjustable screws 1 and B such that the drill bit will be positioned opposite the point to be drilled. The

handle l2 is then moved to its closed position and the screws ll adjusted to engage the rail whereby the mechanism is secured to the rail. Having once adjusted the screws '1' and 8, no further adjustment is necessary so long as the same size of rail is to be drilled.

If the depth of the hole to be drilled is of importance, the point of the drill bit 35 is placed against the. rail surface and the end of the gauge member is spaced from the inner end of the drill portion 31 an amount equal to the depth of the drilled hole.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A frame for a drilling mechanism for drilling holes in the head of a substantially horizontally disposed rail, said frame being generally yokeshaped and having a pair of spaced legs and a a rail drill-supporting cross bar member extending between and connecting said legs and cooperating therewith to define a drill bit plane, said legs having offset free end portions to overlie a rail head, adjustable abutment members carried by and projecting from the said offset leg end portions at substantially right angles to the drill bit plane for engagement with th'e top face of a rail head for vertically positioning the frame with the drill bit plane in alignment with the portion of the side face of a rail hea'dto be drilled, and means constituting the sole' support for the frame for fastening the frame firmly to a rail to be drilled with the drill bit plane dis posed substantially horizontally, said means comprising abutment members carried by said off set leg end portions to engage a side face of a rail head, a clamping member connected pivotally to said offset portions for engagement with an opposite side face of said rail head, a handle operating member pivotally secured to the frame and a link pivotally attached to the handle and to the clamping member for moving the clamping member relative to the frame and into and out of clamping relationwith a rail. 7 H WILLIAM F. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

